Black Lightning: Greg Berlanti’s DC Drama Could Move To CW

Deadline is exclusively reporting that Greg Berlanti-produced DC project Black Lightning could be making a move to the CW network.

The project, which had a commitment order at Fox, according to the report the brass at the network ultimately decided that the superhero project was not a good fit and now Warner Bros. TV have started looking elsewhere and knocking on CW’s doorstep. The report states that discussions are still underway, but believe that a pilot order is likely.

The story of Black Lightning is set to centre on Jefferson Pierce, a man who hung up the suit and his secret identity years ago but with a daughter hellbent on justice and a star student being recruited by a local gang, he’ll be pulled back into the fight as the wanted vigilante and DC legend Black Lightning. The character was created by Tony Isabella and Trevor Von Eeden for DC Comics, making his debut in 1977 and was one of the first major African-American superheroes in the comics. His two daughters also would follow in his superhero footsteps, with Anissa Pierce aka Thunder and become a member of the Outsiders, while Jennifer Pierce aka Lightning would be recruited by the Justice Society of America.

Currently the CW has four Berlanti/DC superhero shows on the network (Arrow, The Flash, Legends of Tomorrow and Supergirl) and if the network makes Black Lightning number five, it means he will become the CW’s DC Universe’s first major African-American superhero and the second to toplining his own series (the other being Netflix’s Luke Cage).